AEK Athens’ Giorgos Katidis given life time ban from national team.
AEK Athens midfielder Giorgos Katidis has been banned from the Greek national team for life according to BBC Sport.
The 20 year old have a Nazi salute to the club’s fans after scoring the winning goal in his side’s 2-1 win over Veria on Saturday.
Katidis has previously captained his country’s under 19 side but now looks unlikely to go on and progress into the full international squad.
The player suffered a barrage of criticism on social media networks following the celebration and the Greek national football federation have acted swiftly to punish Katidis.
The Greek FA called the celebration ‘a severe provocation’ and an insult to ‘all the victims of Nazi bestiality’.
The player has insisted he did not realise the fascist connotations of the gesture and was merely pointing to a team-mate who was sitting in the stands.
AEK have summoned Katidis to a disciplinary meeting next week where he will be asked to explain his actions.
The extreme right is currently enjoying a resurgence in Greek politics with the Golden Dawn party currently polling third in surveys of the electorate.
The party have publicly expressed their sympathy with Nazi ideology and have been linked with a number of violent attacks against immigrants populations living in the country.